


Hold My Hand

by twistedthingsandchocolate



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Finn is touch-starved from his time as a trooper, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Poe having Finn's back, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 11:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6049857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedthingsandchocolate/pseuds/twistedthingsandchocolate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe Dameron is a very tactile man - and sometimes, he makes sure to be extra tactile around Finn. Sometimes, he knows Finn needs it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> I was contemplating Finn’s time as a stormtrooper and what kind of effects that could have on him yesterday. I got stuck thinking about the scene where Phasma catches Finn without his helmet on, and.. this just sort of… happened, as a result.

Poe Dameron is a very tactile man - or so his squad will tell you. He’s never really thought about it much himself. He greets people with firm handshakes, claps shoulders, gives hugs, touches to communicate at the end of long days or when the quiet hours stretches out and noone feels like speaking. All that stuff that soldiers do when they don’t know who will be alive tomorrow and need a bit of comfort to keep themselves grounded, right?

Poe Dameron is a very tactile man - and so he has had to learn to read other people, to know when the touching is unwelcome, to know where personal space is necessary and to respect the boundaries put forth to him at any time and in any given situation.

Lately, he’s been learning that Finn is equally tactile - but with none of the experience Poe would think he’d have learned along the way. He supposes it might be because of Finn’s upbringing as a stormtrooper. In the few quiet moments they’d had to talk, as Finn recovered and the Resistance braced itself for what was to come, Finn once told him about the heavy armor they were meant to wear at all times, except during sleep hours. He’d listened as Finn had talked about how disconnected he’d felt once he’d put it on, how the thick armor meant touching to get someone’s attention was common, how the helmet blocked out smells and made the world seem smaller, unreal even, how cold and conform behavior was all he’d ever known since he was a child.

Poe can only imagine how such a life, lacking all the colors and sounds and smells and sensations he’d taken for granted, must’ve made the poor guy starved for feeling the world beyond the thick layer of his armored gloves and detached viewpoint of his helmet. He can see it in the way Finn is always touching something, always absentmindedly thumbing the well-worn fabric of Poe’s old jacket or whatever surface he is leaning on, in the way he’s so quick to grab onto other people even as he’s calling their names, in the way he’s always standing maybe a touch too close or still occasionally invades people’s space when he’s engrossed in something near them. Poe sometimes catches Finn touching his own face, eyes far away and haunted in a way so different from his usual energetic self that it makes Poe ache for his newfound friend. He’d never given much thought to the lives of stormtroopers before, but now…

Poe Dameron is a very tactile man - and sometimes, he makes sure to be extra tactile around Finn. He touches his shoulder, pats his back, sits a bit closer to him than what others would find strictly comfortable in the mess hall. Occasionally, after long days or when the quiet stretches out and Finn’s eyes are haunted by the ghostly presence of thick armor and a two-letter-four-digit number, Poe walks up to him and takes his hand, gives it a firm squeeze and feels comforted when his friend’s eyes refocus and his hand squeezes back, silent gratitude tucked away in the small quirk of dark lips and slightly too bright twinkle in the corner of Finn’s eyes, a look reserved for Poe and Poe only. He’ll always smile back, reassuringly, silently vowing to himself to have the ex-trooper’s back from now on, to make sure that disbelieving awe he sees when Finn thinks nobody’s looking goes away and is replaced with the knowledge that somebody's got him. That he’s cared for, safe and among friends.

That, and if Poe Dameron is completely honest with himself, he likes to touch Finn and be touched by him in return… but nobody needs to know that part just yet.

**Author's Note:**

> This ship really does have a lot of 'I've got you, buddy' bromance potential, doesn't it?
> 
> I'm still not sure about the ending, but there you go. Thank you for reading this little blurb, and I hope you enjoyed it. :3


End file.
